Florence and Mr. Belmont

Chapter 4

On the next day Flo couldn't concentrate on anything. She tried to practice on the piano, but today simply everything went wrong. She fought about last night. How first she danced with Henry and how he whispered into her ear to meet him in an hour in the west wing. She was so excited. She had made sure that no one would see her, when she left.

When she disappeared from the ballroom, she almost ran to the west wing. But then she saw him walking down the corridor in her direction. He must have been too excited to wait for her in the west wing. In a couple of seconds they would meet in the middle and Henry would passionately kiss her. She blushed at the thought.

But something about his step was not right. It was too firm. It was too... was he angry?

"Where have you been?" he barked. The romantic picture of their kiss was gone.

"Wh-What?" She didn't understand. Why was he angry?

"Don't you know how to read the clock?" he retorted and crossed his arms. Now she was speechless. She was almost sure that an hour had passed since Henry whispered into her ear.

"You told me to meet you in an hour at the west wing. I was just on my way there." she quickly explained.

"One hour? I told you 10 minutes!" He almost screamed. The charming gentleman he once was, was gone. Florence had never seen him angry. From there on she didn't want to think about it. She didn't want to think about how her fiance grabbed her wrist. She didn't want to think about how her fiance screamed at her. No one had ever done such a thing to her. And then she certainly didn't want to think about the young gentleman who had probably seen everything. It was a wonder she was not yet ruined. Usually those things went around quite quickly.

"Miss Alberton" Mary, her maid, interrupted her thoughts. "Mr. Belmont is already here for your French lesson". Right. Mr. Belmont. Her new tutor. Madame Sapient was so old that she could barely walk. It was time for her to retire.

"Tell him to come in, please." Florence answered. She moved from the piano onto the nearby chair and desk. Belmont - what a strange name. He was probably French himself. Luckily, she only needed to take French lessons until she was married. She sighed. No, she was wrong. After her wedding her husband would decide if she will need to take french lessons. So much of her freedom and her own choices.

Suddenly Mary was back followed by a tall gentleman. Wait! She knew that gentleman. It was him. He had escorted her back to the ballroom! This was a joke, right?

"Bonjour, mademoiselle Alberton." the man smiled as he sat on the opposite chair. He recognized her. Well, of course he would! Florence wanted to slap herself. Belmont was still smiling. Mary setted herself on the couch on the other room corner. This was afterall a Mister and she was still an unmarried lady.

She gulped. "Bonjour, monsieur Belmont." Her tutor was not supposed to look like ... like... that! He was too young. His brown hair was too messy. His shirt was too big, although it looked good on him. And, oh god, why was he still grinning?

"We met yesterday, vrai?" He began in his perfect French. Although she trusted Mary, it was better for everybody that she did not understand what they said.

"Qui, c'est vrai." Florence answered in her best french as possible. Silence. She looked closer at him. Did he have freckles? Yes, he did.

"Tell me about yourself." Olivier continued in french. Right. They were practicing her French. She needed to speak.

"Bien, I am Miss Florence Jane Alberton, the daughter of the sixth Earl of Wheatly. But I am soon to be Mrs Mackelbury. And after my future father-in-law will leave this earth, which I hope will not happen soon, I will be the countess of Chesterfield" She proudly responded. She hoped she managed to make as little grammatical and pronunciation mistakes as possible.

Olivier raised his brows slightly. "Tell me something interesting about you." He was again grinning. Was that not interesting? Did he even know how many ladies would kill themself to call them "the future Countess of Chesterfield"? But apparently he had found that fact boring.

"Well...,I fear there is nothing much extraordinary about me. But if you wish to hear something about me, then I can tell you that I like reading very much." He looked at her pleased.

"What do you read?" Mr. Belmont relaxed in his chair as if he was talking to an old good friend. Florence relaxed slightly, too.

"Oh, this and that." she answered.

"Is "this and that" a book title? It sounds rather interesting." he said playfully and Florence had to smile at his comment.

"By "this and that" I meant the usual novels that young ladies read." Florence tried hard to not trip over her french.

"Ah, you probably mean romance." He tried not to roll his eyes.

"Yes, but not only." She defended herself quickly.

"Enlighten me then."

"Emm...Occasionally Mary, my maid, buys me a book from... other parts of London." Florence was unsure why she trusted him with this sensitive information. She never told anybody about Mary's shopping trips to the library. It was for the best to keep it a secret. But somehow she trusted him.

"How interesting. What-"

"I told you something about me. Now it is your turn." she blurted out. Maybe it was better to keep the book's history a secret.

"Me?" he strangely looked surprised.

"No, I mean Mary." Hearing mentioning her name Mary looked up.

"I might not understand French, but I've already heard my name twice." Mary called from the other room corner. Florence just smiled at her and looked back at Belmont. "Well? My grandfather told me you are Lord Wimbleton's grandnephew. How do you like London so far?"

"I like it very much. Although... It's quite different from our calm village. London is so big. And so many people. In my free time I plan to visit all the different parts of it."

"All the parts? Surely you don't want to see... " She did not know the French word for slums.

"I don't mind seeing the poor neighborhoods, if that's what you mean. I find them as interesting as Mayfair or Belgravia."

"But you know that they are dangerous?" Did nobody warn him about the dark side of London?

"Apparently people live there." He simply shrugged.

"Yes. But they... are different."

"Ah yes. You probably mean the wardrobe and all that stuff. But don't worry. I have planned to dress up like a worker and go undercover." Florence had a feeling he actually meant it. She didn't know if to call him crazy or... adventurous. It was actually fascinating.

They continued their conversation for the rest of the hour. She never dreamed that French lessons could be fun. With Madame Sapient they only conjugated verbs and practiced vocabulary. Belmont was a rather interesting tutor.

***

"Look what Lord Mackelbury sended to you!" Mary came into Florence's bedroom with a large bouquet of red roses. "And a letter for you was attached!" Mary was definitely more excited about the roses than Florence herself. She tugged one rose from the bouquet and gave it to Mary. Her eyes enlightened and she left Florence alone in her room.

Later Florence opened the letter:

Dear Florence,

I am so sorry I lost my patience yesterday. I promise it won't happen again. A gentleman should never scream at a lady. Please forgive me for my inappropriate behavior.

With Love,

Henry

Florence sighed relieved and felt somehow better after reading his words. It won't happen again. He promised it. It will be all good. Florence closed her eyes and for a moment she truly believed his words.